Government of Azerbaijan and USAID Cooperate to Advance Socio-Economic Development in the Regions

USAID/Azerbaijan Mission Director, CDC Coordinator, USAID Assistant Administrator, and Deputy Head of ExCom cut the red ribbon to open the new road.

Vugar Naghiyev/USAID

For Immediate Release

Friday, April 19, 2013

USAID/Azerbaijan

(+99412) 498-18-35

The Zardabi “Community Road and Street Light Rehabilitation” project funded under the Socio-Economic Development Activity (SEDA) has been successfully completed. SEDA is co-financed by Government of Azerbaijan and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with support from the Ministry of Economic Development (MoED).

The Ministry of Economic Development, USAID, Zardabi municipality and local authorities, the East-West Management Institute - SEDA implementer, and Zardabi community leaders worked together to rehabilitate a road and streetlights in the community. Zardabi citizens joined forces to put a new asphalt coating on 270 meters of this road, repair the next 330 meters, and renovated 20 streetlights, which improves the day-to-day living conditions for 3,000 people in the community.

On April 18, the project partners and Zardabi residents gathered to mark the opening of the rehabilitated road. Mr. Sahib Mammadov representing MoED described various infrastructure projects in the regions financed by the Azerbaijani Government for improving the living conditions of the population. Mr. Mammadov praised the cooperation with USAID under the SEDA and emphasized its contribution to the State Program on Socio-Economic Development of the Regions.

Ms. Paige Alexander, USAID Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia participating in the ceremony observed that ”Along with our esteemed partners and co-financers in the Ministry of Economic Development, USAID was privileged and pleased to help convert the community’s knowledge, choices, plans, decisions and vision into the reality that we celebrate today - this improved asphalt road.”

“We are proud that Zardabi is one of the most active communities among the 13 SEDA communities involved in the Guba-Khachmaz region,” said Mr. Amirsultan Aliyev, CDC Coordinator for Zardabi. “Now we feel strong enough to further play an increasing role in working with the government and donor organizations in identifying and achieving development goals,” he concluded.

Zardabi residents expressed their appreciation for the successful completion of the project.